Haley. This is sooooo good. Edith freaking Wharton, indeed. Listening to you read these passages is such a delight. Your comforting, buttery soft voice articulating so effortlessly intelligently these insights is just the best thing I’ve listened to in a long time. I am now in love with Edith Wharton and can’t get enough.
I love so much what you said about “What we are accustomed to look at, shapes what we are able to know and see and understand”. And I can’t wait to read what you have to say about the flowers as well as the sea language. “The case of the Countess Olenska had stirred up old settled convictions and set them drifting dangerously through his mind” became one of my favorite sentences-it’s stuck in my head!!- after you talked about it.
Also about some books lending themselves to being closely read vs. others, not so much. As a writer— how?? How does one create such a “highly crafted” masterpiece??? I read a lot of good writing that I think “I could do that given the time and resources” or terrible writing that I think “I could do so much better.” But Edith makes me think “not in a million years could I hope to craft such a lovely paragraph.”
I'm so glad you're loving the book and Wharton, Dana!!!! Yay!! My evil plan is working!
Edith makes me think the same thing. Never in a million years, with all the training and focus and time in the world, could I write a story -- or a single sentence -- as lovely and jam-packed full of meaning as hers are. She had such a once in a lifetime gift, and she was so devoted to it. And we're so lucky she was.
Haley. This is sooooo good. Edith freaking Wharton, indeed. Listening to you read these passages is such a delight. Your comforting, buttery soft voice articulating so effortlessly intelligently these insights is just the best thing I’ve listened to in a long time. I am now in love with Edith Wharton and can’t get enough.
I love so much what you said about “What we are accustomed to look at, shapes what we are able to know and see and understand”. And I can’t wait to read what you have to say about the flowers as well as the sea language. “The case of the Countess Olenska had stirred up old settled convictions and set them drifting dangerously through his mind” became one of my favorite sentences-it’s stuck in my head!!- after you talked about it.
Also about some books lending themselves to being closely read vs. others, not so much. As a writer— how?? How does one create such a “highly crafted” masterpiece??? I read a lot of good writing that I think “I could do that given the time and resources” or terrible writing that I think “I could do so much better.” But Edith makes me think “not in a million years could I hope to craft such a lovely paragraph.”
I'm so glad you're loving the book and Wharton, Dana!!!! Yay!! My evil plan is working!
Edith makes me think the same thing. Never in a million years, with all the training and focus and time in the world, could I write a story -- or a single sentence -- as lovely and jam-packed full of meaning as hers are. She had such a once in a lifetime gift, and she was so devoted to it. And we're so lucky she was.